Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, generator, gearbox, nacelle, and one or more rotor blades. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy from wind using known airfoil principles and transmit the kinetic energy through rotational energy to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
To ensure that wind power remains a viable energy source, efforts have been made to increase energy output by modifying the size, configuration and capacity of wind turbines. One such modification has been to include a wingtip device, such as a winglet, at the tip of each wind turbine rotor blade. However, the use of conventional winglets often provides a variety of disadvantages. For instance, many conventional winglets are configured as suction side winglets, thereby decreasing the clearance between the rotor blades and the wind turbine tower. Additionally, many conventional winglets are designed solely to reduce noise generated by the wind turbine. As such, these winglets generally do not provide an overall impact on the performance and efficiency of the wind turbine.
Accordingly, a pressure side winglet that generally improves the overall performance and efficiency of a wind turbine would be welcomed in the art.